Marking, registering, and record-printing machine.



F. F. AKERLY. I MARKING, REGISTERING, AND RECQRD PRINTING MACHINE.APPLICATION FILED AUG-3, I 9l4.

Pdtented Jan. 11, 1916.

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F.'F. AKERLY.- MARKING, REGISTERING, AN D. RECORD PRINTING MACHINE. 7APPLICATION mm AUG-.3; 1914'. I I v 1,167,733. Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

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APPLICATION FILED AUG-3| 1914. 1,167,733. 7 Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

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I [7708.772'0)": Q I frankflflkerly 9% A F. F. AKERLY. MARKING,REGISTERING, AND RECORD PRINTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG .3.I9I4. 1,167,733. Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

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MARKING, REGISTERING, AND RECORD PRINTING MACHINE.

APPUCATION HLED AUG-3.191%

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

I I SHEETSSHEET 5.

Frank .5 After! 51 umu4w17 F. F. AKERLY. MARKING, REGISTERING, ANDRECORD PRINTING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED 6.3, 1914- 1 1,167,733.Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

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F. F. AKERLY.

MARKING REGISTERING, AN'D RECORD PRINTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILEDAUG-3| 1914.

151675733. Patented Jan.11, 1916.

II SHEETS-SHEET 7.

F. F. AKERLY. MARKING, REGISTERING, AND RECORD PRINTING MACHINE.1,167,733;

APPLICATION FILED AUG-3, I914- Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

I I SHEETs-SHEET' 8.

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lldhN if Q F. F. AKERLY.

MARKING, REGISTERING, AND RECORD PRINTING MACHINE.

I I A PPLICATION FILED AUG.3, I914.

Patented J an. 11', 1916.

II SHEETSSHEET 9.

Frankfflkerly v F. F. AKERLY. MARKING, REGISTERING, AND RECORD PRINTINGMACHINE.

APPLICATION FIL ED AUG-3, I914.

Patented J an. 11,1916.

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1,167,733. Patented Jan.1l,1916.

I1 SHEETS-SHEET H- T all whom, it may concern:

, UNITED STATES. PATENT oFEIoE.

FRANK E. AKERLY, 0E CHICAGO, ILLI-NoIs.

MARKING, REGISTERING, AND REC RIJ NINTING MACHINE.

Application filed August 3, 1914. Serial No. 854,746.

Be it known that I, FRANK FREEMAN AKERLY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Marking, Register-.being had to the accompanying drawings,

time, there will be greater accuracy and which form a part of thisspecification.

Considered asa whole my invention may be said to relate to the art ofmarking'and recording articles of various kinds as, for example,articles reaching a laundry for the purpose of being laundried. Thus,when a bundle of clothing or other articles is delivered to the laundry,each article must be marked and counted and a list made of all thearticles in the bundle. This isslow, tedious work and, in a laundry ofany considerable size, requires the service of a considerable number ofcompetent clerks.

Viewed in one of its aspects, my invention may be said to have for itsobject to make the work of counting, marking and recording articles to alarge extent automatic so that a single person may readily do the workwhich has heretofore required the services of several persons and, atthe same neatness in the list or other record than where the work is alldone manually.

I attain the main object of my invention by constructing a machine whichwill mark an article in any suitable way andat the same time act upon acombined registering and printing mechanism adapted to be operated toprint on a list or ticket whenever all of the articles'of one kind or inone group have been. marked. Therefore, viewed in another of itsaspects, my invention may be regarded as having for its object toproduce a simple and reliable machine for marking articles, countingthem and making a record-thereof; or, as viewed in another of itsaspects, to produce a simple and novel marking mechanism or, as viewedin another of its aspects, to produce a simple and novel counting orregistering and printing mechamenu.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with' particularity in Specification ofLetters Patent.

- Patented Jan. 11,

the claims; but for a full understanding of my invention and of itsobjects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 isa top plan View of a machine arranged in accordance with oneform of my invention, a section of one of the parts being brokenaway;Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine looking upwardly from thebottom of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, 'parts being,however, shown in section and other parts being broken away; Fig. 4 is aview on an enlarged scale'of a fragment of the setting mechanism. forthe laundry marking device's, parts being broken away to expose otherparts normally concealed; Fig. -5 is a section taken approximately online 55 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a section on an enlarged scale takenapproximately on line 66 of Fig. 1'; Fig. 7 1s a top plan view of afragment of the countlng and printing mechanism with the adJaCGIltsupporting means therefor; Fig. 8 183. section taken approximately online 88 of Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is a section taken approximately on line. 9-9of Fig. 7 Fig. 10 is a section taken approximately on line 1010 asection on line 11- 11 of Fig 12; Fig. 12

is a section taken approximately on line 1212 of Fig. 11; Fig. 13 is atop plan view of the parts shown in Figs. 11 and 12, partly broken away;Fig. 14 is a top plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the registering andprinting mechanism, with a. portion of the casing removed; Fig. 15 ,is aside elevation upwardly from the bottom of Fig. 14, and the side memberof the casing being removed; Fig. 16 is a section taken approxiof themechanism shown in F 14 looking mately on line 16-16 ofFig. 15; Fig. 17

1s a section taken approximately on line 17-17 of Fig. 16; Fig. 18 is aview of the unit wheel of the registering mechanism looking at-the sidenext to the tens wheel; Fig. 19 is a view of the tens wheel looking atthe side next to the unit wheel: Fig. 20 is a section takenapproximately on line 20-20 of Fig. 18 with the tens wheel shown indotted lines; Fig. 21 is a'side elevation'of the main pawl for the tensand hundreds wheel;

Fig. 22 is a view'of the connections between the marking mechanism andthe counting mechanism detached from the rest of the machine; and Fig.23 is a section through the spools on which" the ribbon of theregistering and printing mechanism is wound. In the drawings I haveillustrated my invention as embodied in a machine designed particularlvfor marking laundry'articles, counting the articles of each kind, andmaking a printed record on the usual laundry list and, for the sake ofbrevity, I shall confine the detailed description tothis particularmachine and to the particular use for which this machine has beendesigned; but I desire to have it understood that my invention is notlimited to marking or countingvor recording laundry articles nor is itlimited to a machine in which all of the aforesaid operations arecombined.

Reference being had to the drawings, 1 represents a suitable flat baseon the front of which is mounted suitable marking mechanism while uponthe rear portion is a casing or housing,.2, for containing a roll oflaundry lists and on top of the housing, in position to print on thelists one at a time, is a suitable counting or registering and printingmechanism.

The laundry marking mechanism is of the type adapted to print suitabledesignating characters either upon the articles themselves or upon tagson the articles. In the arrangement shown, there is arranged on top ofthe front portion or the base of the I machine a suitable casing, 3,projecting beyond the end of the base and open on the under sidethroughout the projecting portion. Within the casing are arranged aseries of wheels or disks, 5, six in number, all loosely mounted on atransverse shaft, 6. Each of the wheels or disks has on one side a thinpinion, 7, which spaces it from the adjacent disk or wheel. Each disk orwheel has on the periphery a series of characters,

' inthe present instance the letters of the al ing teeth which mesh withthe teeth on one i of the pinions. Each of the segments is also providedwith ratchet teeth, 10, adapted to be engaged by a suitable pawl, 11, tohold the segment against movement in one direction. The oscillatorymovements of the pawls llare limited by two parallel rods,

12 and 12, extending across the casing 3, one on each side of a nose orprojection on each of the pawls. The angle through which the pawls mayoscillate is greater than that required to permit the pawls to ride overthe ratchet teeth so that when the pawls are re-.

tracted as far'a's they will go, a' finger, 13,

on each will catch under a spring pressed dog, 14, when the latter is inthe proper position and the pawls will be held out of operative relationto the ratchet teeth. When the segments are in their normal positions,

that is the positions which they occupy when w tend constantly to returnto their normal positions,'corresponding to the idle positions of themarking wheels, and therefore, whenever the wheels are to be reset tobring them all into their idle positions, the segments are all releasedby .the mere act of grasping the handle 17 and turning it slightly so asto carry the rod 12 back against the pawls; the pawls being caught undertheir respective locking dogs 14: so that the handle 17 may be releasedimmediately; and the segments then swinging back to their normalpositions and, as they reach these positions, kicking the dogs awayfromthe pawls and permitting the pawls to drop down into operative relationto the ratchets so that the parts are in proper condition to permit themarking mechanism to be re-adjusted. At the extreme end of the ratchetteeth on each of the segments is an inclined face or shoulder, 10 ofgreater depth than the ratchet teeth; each of these faces or shouldersbeing adapted to engage with the corresponding pawl and swing it backfar enough to be caught under the corresponding dog, 14, when thesegment is turned as far as it will go from its normal position of rest,leaving the segment free to swing back as soon as the actuating force isremoved. I

The segments 9' are actuated by means of suitable push rods, 18, eachhaving a pin and slot connection, 19, with one of the segments and eachhaving a spring, 20, which tends to hold it raised and keep thecorresponding segment in its normal idle position. The depression of thepush rod against the tension of its spring to the proper degree sets thecorresponding printing -wheel, while the pawl coiiperating with thecorresponding segment maintains the adjustment until the pawl isreleased as heretofore described and permits the spring on the push rodto retract all of the parts. Sinceeach marking wheel has a great manydifferent working positions it is necessary that the extent to which thepush rods are depressed be nicely regu- ,lated in order that the propermarking char- 21, on which is mounted an'annular car-.

riage, 22. The carriage has distributed about the same a series of pushbuttons, 23, corresponding in number to the number of printingcharacters on each of the marking wheels. There are supported in thecarriage adjacent to the push buttons a series of rotary rods or shafts,24, one adjacent to each of the push buttons. 'Each of the push buttonshas thereon a cam-like arm, 25, overlying an arm, 26, on thecorresponding rod or shaft, 24. Each push button is held in'its raisedposition by means of a suitable spring, 27. Each of the rodsor shafts 24is provided with a radial lug or projection,

28, arranged at a point along the rod or shaft different from the pointsat which the lugs or projections on all of the other shafts are located.The parts are-so proportioned that normally the springs hold the pushbuttons raised while springs, 24, serve to hold the shafts 24 in suchpositions that the fingers or lugs are retracted within the carriage.lVhenever a push button is depressed, the corresponding rotary rod orshaft is oscillated and its lug or projection is caused to projectbeyond the inner line of the carriage.

Each of the push rods, 18, is provided with a radial finger, 29,projecting into proximity to the inner edge of'the annular carriage. Theoperation of this mechanism is as follows: Assuming that the push rodthe letter a, the carriage is turned around until the push button a isjust opposite the .end of the finger 29-on the 'push rod 1; the pushbutton a, is pressed down so as to swing the corresponding lug orprojection controlled thereby beneath the finger on the push rod; andthe push rod is then depressed until its finger engages with the lug orprojection beneath it and arrests further movement. The push rod islocked in this position by. the pawl and rack heretofore described, sothat upon the release of the push button the latter assumes its normalposition whilethe push rod remains locked in its depressed position. Thecarriage is then turned to bring the desired character opposite theprojecting finger onthe push rod 2 and the second wheel of the set isadjusted In Figs. 4 and 5 I have illustrated in detail sufficient 10fthe structure to show how one of the push rods, the rod 4 is set, theparts being shown in full lines in their controls the unit marking wheeland I that it is desired to set this-wheel to printnormal positions ofrest andin dotted lines in the positions which they occupy. when the.push"button for controlling the extent of depression of the push rodand the push rod itself are depressed.

I The peculiar pawl i and ratchet holding means for the actuatingsegments have a valuable function to which no reference has heretoforebeen made.-- In setting the several marking wheels, it may "happen thatone of the wheels is incorrect and will print the .wrong character. Ifit is necessary to turn this Wheel forward one or more steps in order tocorrect its position this can be done in the manner heretofore explainedwithout interfering with the other wheels.

7 If, on the other hand, it is necessary to turn one of the wheelsbackward through one or more steps, in order to make the correction, theholding pawl for that wheel prevents a direct backward movement; but, bypressing the corresponding pushrod down -as' far as it will go, theholding pawl is kicked clear of the ratchet teeth and is caught underthe corresponding locking dog therefor. Consequently, upon againreleasing the push rod, the marking wheel whose position is to becorrected flies back to its nor- 8 mal positionv of rest and, as itreaches this position, the tail end of its actuating segment kicks thedog away from the holding pawl and allows the pawl to drop down intooperative relation to the ratchet teeth; so that the wheel may then beset in position to print the proper character, in the manner heretoforedescribed. I

At the front of the base member 1 is a vertical depending portion, 30,on which is arranged a vertically slidable shoe, 31, provided with ayieldably supported anvil, 32, which, when the shoe is raised, isadapted to engage with the printing points or line on the markingwheels. The marking wheels are provided with notches or recesses, I '33,between the printing characters and the shoe, 31, is provided with afinder or finger,

34, preferably slidably supported in the same way as the anvil 32 andadapted to enter the overlying notches in the marking wheels and, if thewheels should happen to be slightly out of registration, bring them allinto registration before the printing surfaces come in contact with theanvil. The shoe 31 may be operated in any suitable way, as, for example,by means of a treadle, 35, connected to one end ofa suitable operatinglever, 36, whose other end is connected to the shoe.

In the member 30 just behind the shoe 31 is a well, 37 containing ayieldably supported ink pad, 38. Hinged at their upper ends to the sides.of' the casing 3 are arms, 39,

having a spring, 40, tending to maintain it in its shortest condition.This insures thatthe inking roller will always engage the printingsurfaces with ayielding pressure when the arms 39 are swung to ink thewheels as will hereinafter be described. A spring, 41, which mayconveniently" be placed between the handle 17 and one of the in contactwith the printing surfaces on the marking wheel. This movement oftheinking roller is completed and the .pawls, by reason of the angularpositions which they assume, are allowed to drop off the upper ends ofthe posts 43 soas to permit the inking roller to recede into contactwith the inking pad before the anvil is lifted high enough to interferewith the roller or tobe interfered with by the roller. If desired, theinking roller may be provided with a ratchet wheel, 44, engaging with apivoted toothed member, 45, so constructed that when the inking rolleris swung forward to inkthe printing characters on the markingwheel, theroller is caused to rotate so as to.

present the surface which was in contact with the pad while, upon thereturn move ment of the roller, the ratchet teeth simply slip over theteeth on the member 45 and theroller is not turned backward. With thisarrangement the roller is progressively turned step by step in onedirection.

The marking wheels having been properly set to print the desiredcharacters on a piece of laundry, and the inkwell being supplied withink; a piece of laundry as, for example, a collar, 46, is laid on theanvil, the treadle is depressed and the shoe carrying the anvil andfinder 34 rises, causing the marking wheels to be inked and then to becentered or brought accurately into registration, whereupon the piece oflaundry will be pressed between the printingsurface and the anvil andwill receive the desired impression from the marking wheels. Theoperation of the treadle to effect the marking of an article also setsor adjusts a combined counting or registering and recordprintingmechanism which I shall now describe.

In the front end of the main housing or casing 2 is arranged a suitabledrum or reel, 50, on which is adapted to be wound a strip of laundrylists suitably printed in the usual way with the names of variousarticles to be laundried and bearing opposite the names suitable spacesin which the number of articles of each kind may be set. The drum orreel is revolubly supported between the side walls of the housing, oneend being conpted I wall of the housing 2 near the front thereof and thestrip of laundry lists, 53, is adapted to be passed up through this slotand across the top of the housing to a feeding mecha-' nism by means ofwhich the strip may be placed in position to be marked. In thearrangement shown, the feeding mechanism consists of a shaft, 54, havingthereon two fixed knurled'disks, 55, which project upwardly throughslots-56, in the top wall, 57, of the housing, while suitably supportedjust above the disks are small rollers, 58, of rubber, fiber or othersuitable material. The rollers, 58, press against the knurled disks. Onone end of the shaft 54 is a handle, 59, by means of which it may berotated. It will be seen that by drawing the strip of laundry lists outfar enough to bring its free end between the rollers 59 and the disks55, and turning the handle..59, the strip will be firmly gripped andwill be fed forward a distance depending upon the angle through whichthe operating handle is turned. By

- making the circumferential length of the disks 5 5 exactly equal tothe length of a single laundry list, it is only necessary to give thehandle 59 one complete turn in order to withdraw one list from itsposition on the printing table formed by the top wall of the housing andreplace it by another. If desired, the handle may be provided with aspring actuated Cpin or dog, 60, which, as the handle is turne ridesupon the periphery of a stationary disk, 61, and, at the end of a.complete revolution, drops into a notch,

62, in the periphery of this disk, apprising the operator that acomplete change in the lists'has been made and serving as a. yieldablelock for the handle. In a suitable point, preferably adjacent to one ofthe feed ing disks is placed a suitable fixed pointer, 63, by means ofwhich the positioning of the laundry lists may be accurately effected.

It is customary to place the names of articles on laundry lists in tworows side by side and I have therefore arranged the counting andprinting mechanism so that it may be used in connection with lists ofthis kind, first registering the articles in one row and then in theother row. The top of the housing 2 is inclined, being higher at theback end than at the front and, mounted outside of and parallel with oneof the side walls of the housing is a dove tail guide,

65, the upper and lower edges of which are parallel with the top of thehousing or printing table. Mounted on the guide and projecting upwardlyand downwardly therefrom is a-carriage, 66, adapted to be moved aconstant tendency to rotate the gear wheel back and forth along theguide in the direction of the length of the printing tables.

.Below and parallel with the guide 65 is fixed a rack bar, 67 with whichmeshes a pinion, 68, journaled in the lower end of the carriage 66.Connected at one end to the pinion and at its other end to the carriageis a coiled spring, 69, so disposed that when the carriage is moved upthe incline the spring is wound up and therefore exerts in the directionto move the carriage down the incline. Fastened to the pinlon is anescapement wheel, 70, with which cooperates a pallet, 71, adapted toprevent too rapid rotation of the pinion. On the upper portion of thecarriage is arranged a vertically vmovable slide, 72, normally heldraised by suitable springs, 73, but adapted to be depressed against thetension of these springs. The slide 72 is adapted to serve as the directsupport for the registering and printing mechanism to be hereinafterdescribed. The registering and printing mechanism is arranged inacasing, 74, carried upon one end of an elongated tubular member, 75,which extends. through and is .supported in the slide, 72, so as to bemovable in the direction to carry the registering andprintingmechthrough which it isinecessary to shift the' a mechanism to enable itto print in both rows on the laundry lists. If desired, the member 75may be provided With properly spaced depressions, 79, and the guide beprovided with a spring pressed pawl or dog, 80, which will drop into oneof these depressions or the other as the case may be, and yieldinglylock the registering and printing mechanism against accidentaldisplacement. The tubular member 75 is slotted in proximity to each ofthe ratchet wheels 77 and 78, as indicated at 81, to permit an actuatingpawl to have access to the ratchet wheels. A vertically slidable rod,82, having at its upper end a nose or pawl, 83, is mounted onthecarriage 66 in a position to bring its nose or pawl into alin'ementwith one or the other of the slots 81. depending upon the position whichthe registe ing and printing mechanism occupies. The lower end of therod passes through an eye, 84, which is only loose enough upon the rodto permit the latter to slide up and down, while at an intermediatepoint the rod passes through an en; larged eye, 85, which permits it tooscillate so as to carry its pawl toward and away from the ratchetwheel. On the rod 82, at a point betweenthe two eyes is a wedge shapedcollar, 86, between which and the lower eye is placed a spring, 87. Theunder surface of the collar 86 is inclined transversely to the axis andtherefore the tendency of the spring is not only to hold the rod raisedbut also to tilt it back and hold the nose or pawl out of engagementwith the ratchet Wheel. The upper surface of the collar is alsoinclined, but in the opposite direction from the lower surface andtherefore, when the bar 88, to be hereinafter described, is pressed downupon the, collar 86 it tilts the rod 82 against the tension of thespring and carries the nose or pawl into engagement with theratchetwheel so that upon a further downward movement of the bar, the rod isforced down and turns the ratchet wheel through a distance of one tooth.

The bar 88' to which reference has just been made extends along the sideof the main housing2 parallel with the guide 65 and the rack 67 and issupported at one end upon a link, 89, hung upon the side wall of themain housing and at its other end upon one end of the arm of a lever,90, which is hung, upon the side of the housing at such a point betweenits ends as to make the arm upon which the bar in length to the link 89.A spring, 91, acting on the lever 90 tends normally to hold the barraised. It will be seen that the bar 88 is movable up and down but, byreason of the manner in which it is supported, must always remainparallel with the guide and the rack so that it will always hear thesame relation to the collar 86 on the operating rod 82, no matter whatthe position of the carriage is lengthwise of the guide or track. Theextreme front end of the bar 88 underlies the end of the short arm of alever, 92, hung upon the side of the casing 3 of the marking mechanismand having its long arm terminating in the path of movement of one ofthe posts 43 forming part of the laundry marking mechanism. The partsare so proportioned that whenever the operator steps on the treadle forthe purpose of marking a piece of laundry, the post 43, after havingbeen released from the pawl of the inking device as heretoforeexplained,travels up and swings the lever 92 in a direction to causethis lever to depress the bar 88 and thus turn the driving shaft of theregi tering mechanism through a distance equal to one tooth.

88 is supported equal The registering or counting and list or 12 recordprinting mechanism is normally held raised above the table on which thelists are supported and, in order to print on one of the lists, it isnecessary to depress this mechanism. As will be best seen from'Fig.

6, the tubular support 75 for the registering and printing mechanismpasses through an elongated vertical slot, 95, in the carriage 66 so asto permit the entire registerlngand printing mechanism to be loweredwhen the slide 72 is depressed. In order to prevent accidentaldepression of the slide72 I provide it with a key, 96, having thereon afinger, 97, which is adapted normally to rest upon the top of thecarriage 66 and lock the slide against being depressed. When it isdesired to print upon a list, the key 96 is pressed, the first actionbeing to carry the finger 97 from above the carriage and the slide beingthen free to travel downwardly against the tension of the supportlngspring, 73.

. The position of the registering and pr nting mechanism lengthwise ofthe list is controlled as followsi Arranged above the table 57 andparallel therewith and with the track are two stationary frames, 100 and101, spaced apart a distance equal to the distance between the rows onthe laundry list. The frame 100-is located just inside of the path ofmovement of the carriage 66 along its track and its width is such thatwhen theregistering or counting and printing mechanism is adjusted so asto print in the left hand column of alist, the casing 74: of thismechanism lies 'in close proximity to the track. The under side of theframe'101 at the front end thereof, is cut away as indicated at 102 wasto leave room to permit the passage ofthe registering or counting andprinting mechanism when it is run to the front or lower end of the tableand then shifted laterally to bring it in proper relation to the righthand column on the list. The frames 100 and 101 are adapted to carrysuitable keys and other devices for controlling the position' .of theregistering and printing mechanism in the direction of, the

length of the list.

As perhaps best illustrated in Fig 6 and in Figs. 11 to 13 inclusive,the-tubularsupporting member for the registering and printing mechanism.has a section cut away so as to form a vertical forwardly facingshoulder, 104:. Carried by the frames 100 and 101 are vertically movablekeys indicated at 105 and 106 respectively, any one of which may bedepressed farenough to bring its stem, 107, in position to engage withthe shoulder 104 and prevent the registering and printing mechanism fromtraveling forwardly. Each key of the set 105 corresponds to an article.to be marked in the left hand row of a list and bears a properidentifying legend. Thekeys are so. disposed that when a list isproperly located on the table and the registering and printing device isarrested by engaging with the stem of one of the keys, downward pressureon L65 the member 96., as heretofore explained, will cause the mechanismto print in the column directly opposite the name corresponding to thekey. Each of the position adjusting keys is provided with a spring, 108,which tends to hold it its raised position. The stems of all of thekeys'of the set 105 project through openings, 109,in a slidinglock bar, 110.The openings 109 are larger in diameter than the stems of the keys andon each stem-1s a collar, 111, sufficiently small to pass down throughthe opening in the locking bar when the corresponding key is is forcedback against the tension of the spring and allows the collar on the stemof the key to pass through to the under side of the bar. As soon as thecollar passes be lowthe bar, the latter is of course released andtherefore the spring pushes it lengthwise and causes it to serve as adog overlying the collar and preventing it from being raised.

The parts'are ever one of the keys is locked down its stem is in aposition to engage with the shoulder, 104, on the counting and printingmechanism as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 12 and also in full linesin Fig. 11 where one of the keys is shown in the position where thecollar is just ready to pass below the locking bar but has not yet doneso. It will be seen .that when one key is locked down and another isdepressed it carries the bar into its unlocking position and permits thekey previously locked down to fiyup into its normal position. The keysin the frame 101 are constructed and controlled in exactly the same wayas those in the other set and it is believed that no detaileddescription of these keys is necessary.

The way in which the machine is used in order to control the position ofthe printing.

mechanism is as follows: When a new list is brought in place on thetable, the supportmg carriage is moved up along its track and theuppermost key, the stop key is depressed andserves to hold the combinedregistering and list-printing mechanism at the top of the first row. Ifthe first nameon the list is shirts, then this key is c'le-j pressed andthe mechanism is allowed to slide down under the influence of gravityand the spring 69 until it is arrested by the shirt key. As the shirtsare marked by the marking mechanism, their total is registered and, whenthe last shirt has been marked, the printing'key is depressed and arecord is made on the list opposite the in the key.

word Shirts, denoting the number of releasing the carriage so that ittravels down I until arrested by the key last depressed. In this way allof the articles which find places in the first column are marked andrecorded and then the mechanism is shifted so as to make it possible toprint in connection'with the second column on the list, under thecontrol of the group of keys 106. p, v

The depression of the position determining key not only permits theregistering and printing mechanism to be shifted so as to vary theprinting point, but it .also serves to return to'z'ero'or reset theregistering or counting mechanism to-be hereinafter described. Theprimary means for accomplishing this consists of a bar, 114, lyingbeside the stems of the keys 105 and a similar, through somewhat shorterbar, 115, lying beside the stems of the other set of positiondetermining keys. Each of the bars is supported at its ends upon thefree ends of pivotally supported arms, 116,. of equal lengths; thuspermitting the bars to be moved upand down without coming out ofparallelism with the table or main track. On' each of the keys is apeculiarly shaped dog, 117, pivotally arranged in a slot, 118, Each doghas a nose, 119, adapted to overlie the bar 114 or 115, as the case maybe and also an arm or finger,

120, Which is adapted to engage with a stationary cam bar or plate,121,when the key is depressed; the result being. that during thefirstportion of the downward movement of a. key the bar 114, or 115, will bedepressed but, before the extreme limit of the downward movement of thekey is reached the cam 121 will swing the dog clear of the bar and leavethe bar clear to rise without being interfered with by the key whichremains locked in its depressed position by the locking bar 110.

The registering and record printing mechanism is best illustrated inFigs. 14

to 21. This mechanism is all inclosed in or carried by the casing 74-andconsists of combined registering and printing wheels and suitablemechanism for supporting and controlling a typewriter ribbon. -Withinthe casing 74 coaxialwith the shaft 76,. are supported three wheels,130, 131 and 132, these being respectivelyunits, tens and hundredswheels; the unit wheel, being fixed to the end of the shaft and theother two wheels having no direct connection with the Shaft. The bottomof the casing or housing is open'so that the extreme lower portions ofthe three wheels may project through the same. Each wheel is providedwith ten printing heads, 133, equally spaced around the peri herythereof and bearing the numerals rom zero to 9 inclusive. In otherwords, the three wheels make it possible to register any number from 1to 999 and also to print any of these numbers. That portion of the shaft76 within the casing is surrounded by and supported in a station- 4 arysleeve, 134, fixed to the casing. Each of the wheels has a recess, 135,of considerable diameter'in one side thereof and, arranged within eachof the recesses is a cupshaped disk, 136, revolubly supported on thesleeve, 134, and which, with the corre sponding wheel, forms a housingfor a long coiled spring, 137. One end of each of the springs'isconnected to the stationary sleeve 134 while the other end is connectedto the adjacent disk. On the periphery of each of the disks is a singletooth, 138, which is adapted to be engaged by a pawl, 139, arranged in asuitable recess, 140, in the surrounding wheel. The parts are soproportioned that when the shaft 76 is. turned to advance the wheels,the movement of the wheels is in the direction to wind up the springs.When free to do so, therefore, the

springs will always return the wheels to the initial positions which, inthe present case,

is that in which the zeros are at the bottom. On one side of each of thewheels are a series of ratchet teeth, 141, adapted to be engaged bysuitable pawls for the purpose of normally holding the wheels againstbeing turned backward by the action of the springs; there being'ofcourse as many of the ratchet teeth as there are printing positionsoneach of the wheels.

- -In order that the register may be reset,

that is returned to zero, it is only necessary to release the wheelsfrom their holdin pawls, whereupon the springs will turn them back; butin case one or more of the wheels shall have made a single complete turnso as to be set at zero, it is a simpler matter to release thecorresponding spring or springs and permit them to unwind without movingthe wheel or wheels. This is accomplished by simply'lifting up thepawls, 139, at the end.

I on the same side as the ratchet teeth 141.

The holding pawls, 145, for the wheels are each provided with a lip,146, projecting into the corresponding groove, 144, for the purpose ofacting as a cam to engage with the nose, 142, on the corresponding pawl,139, and lifting the pawl 139 far enough to release the spring held diskor drum and permit the spring to unwind itself while the wheel is movingfrom 9 to zero. In other is provided on its periphery with a singletooth, 147, in a-position to be engaged by a suitable pawl, 148, whenthewheel is in its zero position. These pawls prevent the wheels from beingturned back past the zero point.

Extending through the casing, above the pawls 145, is a shaft, 149,having thereon three cam members, 150, each adapted, when the shaft 149is turned in the proper direc-V tion, to engage with one of the pawls145 and lift it away from the wheel which it is holding. A suitablespring, 151, normally holds the shaft 149 in a position in which the cammembers 150 are raised above the pawls. One end of the shaft 149projects through the wall of the casing on the side next to the tubularsupporting member and is there provided with a crank, 151, whichunderlies the bar 114 or the bar-115, heretofore described, dependingupon whether the mechanism is to print-in the first column or in thesecond column of the list; the parts being so proportioned that when oneof the position determining keys 105 and 106 is depressed for thepurpose of shifting the mechanism to a new printing point, the

downwardly moving bar 114 or 115 engages with the crank 151 and rotatesthe shaft 149 in the proper direction to free the wheels from the pawls145. Consequently the act of -manipulating the mechanism to shift theprinting point also resets the counting or registering mechanism so asto bring it to zero.

()ne of the features of my invention has to do with a novel constructionand arrangement by means of which thetens wheel and the hundreds wheelare moved properly to i I register the tens and hundreds. It will beseen that I have provided the unit wheel, 130, with a pin, 155,extending transversely through the same .near the periphery and heldyieldingly in place by being attached to a spring, 156, secured to theunit wheel on the side farthest removed from the tens wheel. The ratchetteeth 141*, corresponding to the teeth 141 on the unit disk are madelong enough in the radial direction to permit them to be engaged by thepin 155 when the latter is pushed toward the tens wheel. The pin 155 mayconveniently be actuated by the holding pawl 145, the latter having acam shaped end, 157, which engages with the pin and forces it laterallyso that just as the unit wheel reaches the position for printing thenumeral 9, the pin 155 is brought in contact with one of the ratchet'teeth 141 on the tens wheel; and therefore,

when the unit wheel is turned into the next position, completing asingle revolution, the tens wheel is carried forward one step. The pawl145 is of course so shaped that as soon as the tens wheel has beencarried through a complete step, the pin 155 is withdrawn by its springand does not again come into play until another revolution of the unitwheel has been made. The hundreds wheel is just like the tens wheel andit is adapted to be actuated by means of a. spring held pin,

'160, on the tens wheel', this pin and the manner of supporting it'beingthe same as the pin155 and its spring 156. The parts are so proportionedthat when the tens wheel has made nine-tenths of a revolution, the pin160 lies in a position to be in axial alinement with the'pin 155 at thetime that pin is being pushed laterally for the purpose of actuating thetens wheel. Consequently, when the pin 155 is pushed in, it not onlylooks the unit wheel and the tens wheel together, but, by forcing thepin 160 laterally into engagement with one of the ratchet teeth on thehundreds wheel, it looks the hundreds wheel to the other two; the resultbeing that as the units wheel completes its revolution, it carriesboththe tens and the hundreds wheel forward through one step. As soon as thepin 155 and the units wheel is released, the pin 160 is allowed tospring away from the hundreds wheel so that the three wheels aredisconnected from each other.

I prefer to form the numerals on the reg istering and printing wheels insuch a manner that it will print on the record sheet, that is thelaundry list, through an inked ribbon in a manner corresponding to theordinary typewriter. The ribbon is shown in dotted lines at 170 and hasits ends secured respectively to drums, 171 and 172. From the drum 172the ribbon passes under an idle roller, 175, underneath the casing, overan idle roller, 174, over the top of the casing, over an idle roller173, and back to' the drum 171. The drums 171 and 172 are loose upon arevoluble supporting sleeve, 176,.suitably journaled in a rearwardextension, 177, of the casing 74. Each drum is provided on its interiorwith ratchet teeth, 178, and, in a recess, 179, in the sleeve 176, is adoubleended rocking pawl, 180, which is adapted to engage alternatelywith the ratchet teeth of thetwo drums so as to lock either of the drumsto the sleeve and leave the other free. Arranged above each of the drumsis a pressure roller, 181, carried in a suitable rocking frame, 182; theframes being provided with springs,-' 183, by means of which the rollers181 are'made to'press against the drums or against'those portions of theribbon wound upon the drums. The frame overlying the drum 172 isprovided with an arm, 184,.

i Position to release the drum 172 from the sleeve and lock the drum'171on the sleeve casing next to' the supporting member 75. A

spring, 190, holds the member 189 normally raised and the pawl 187normally retracted. The member 189 carries a pin, 191, which projectsout through a slot, 192, in the side wall of the casing, in a positionto underlie the bar 114: or 115 as the case may be. Whenever the bar isdepressed, resetting the registering mechanism, as heretofore explained,it also presses down on the pin 191 and moves the ribbon actuating pawlin a direction to shift the ribbon a distance equal to one tooth on theratchet wheel 186.

In view of the .fact that the registering and printing wheels havenoblank positions and will therefore always print something, if it beonly a zero, if the ribbon is maintained between all of the wheels andthe record sheet at all times, I think it advisable to provide means forshifting the ribbon so that it will be located only under those wheelsfrom which it is desired to-obtain an impression. In other words, whenthe printed record is to be a number less than ,10, only the unit wheelcomes into play and therefore at this time I intend that the rib bonshall be located only under the unit wheel and not under either of theothers. For a number of two digits, the first two wheels of the groupare used and therefore the ribbon should then be shifted so as to lieunder these two wheels. Where a number of three digits is to be printedthe ribbon should of course underlie all of the wheels. In order tocontrol .the position of the ribbon effectively I have passed it througha holder, 200, lying directly below the printing wheels and above thesupporting table. The holder and ribbon are of course both wide enoughto permit an impression to be made simultaneously by all three wheels.The holder is mounted on the front end of an arm, 201, which terminatesat its rear end in a sleeve, 202, slidable upon a shaft, 203, extendingtransversely across the casing behind the registering and printingwheels. The shaft 203 is made long enough to permit the sleeve 202 to beshifted lengthwise thereofinto the three positions necessary to give theholder its required three positions. A spring,204, surrounding the shaft203 and engaging with the sleeve 202 tends constantly to press thesleeve in the directionv to bring the ribbon underneath all three of thewheels. The controlling means for the sleeve is as follows: Suitablysupported in the cas1ng74 so as to be movable about an 'axis extendingtransversely of the shaft 202,

and in a' vertical plane containing the axis of this shaft, is a bellcrank lever, 205, the lower end of whichhas a loose connection with thesleeve 01' it may simply engage with the sleeve at the proper end toenable it to push the sleeve against the. tension of the spring when thelever is oscillated. The upper arm of the lever 205 underlies alaterally extending presser foot, 206, on the lower end of the member189. The result is that whenever the member 189 is depressed, itoscillates the bell crank lever and. moves the ribbon holder into theposition necessary to print from the unit wheel alone, if the ribbon isnot already in this position.

The sleeve 202 is provided with an upward projection, 207, which isadapted to be engaged by either of two pawls, 208 and 209, mounted onthe rear wall of the casing 74, the pawl 208 locking the ribbon holderin the position for printing from the unit wheel alone and the pawl 209locking the ribbon holder in the necessary position for permitting theunit and the tens wheel to print simultaneously.

The pawls 208 and 209 are controlled as follows: The pawl 208 has afinger, 210, which projects in proximity to the tens wheel and, when thetens wheel is in its zero position, lies in a depressed portion, 211, inthe periphery of this wheel. When the tens wheel is moved out of thezero position, the finger 210 is forced outwardly and swings the pawl208 from behind the projection 207, allowing the spring to shift theribbon holder laterally until the projection 207 is brought to rest bycoming in contact with the pawl 209. The .pawl 209 is provided with afinger, 212, which cooperates with a depressed portion in the peripheryof the hundreds wheel corresponding in every respect. to the recess ordepressed portion 211 in the tens wheel; so that when the hundreds wheelis shifted out of its zero po-

